New Wilson Hall building manager Steve Whiteaker knows the drill from Roads and Grounds up

by Elizabeth Clements

At
16 stories and 238 feet tall, Wilson Hall is home to physicists,
administrators, maintenance people; to conferences,arts series
performances and, of course, the cafeteria. On any given day the
building buzzes with theories about inflation or oscillations or even migration
(many Fermilab scientists are avid birdwatchers),but the-behind-the-scenes
work of operating the building remains just that — behind the scenes.

Take electricity for example —it is hard to ponder dark matter in the dark.
How about elevators? It is hard to maintain “high-energy ”if you have to walk
up fifteen flights of stairs. And most important of all —heat —because who
wants office cryogenics during Chicago winters?

And while you and I may take indoor plumbing,or a roof that doesn ’t leak,
for granted,Steve Whiteaker,the new Wilson Hall General Building Manager,
does not.

On March 31, Whiteaker replaced Kent Collins,who was the Building
Manager for more than ten years.Collins is now the new Infrastructure
Condition Assessment Coordinator for Fermilab ’s Facilities Engineering
Services Section.

“The most important thing about being a Building Manager is the ability to
communicate with people,” said Dave Nevin, head of FESS.“Wilson Hall
has a large number of very diverse people,who all have very important jobs.
It is imperative that the building manager be able to communicate effectively
with these people.Steve has demonstrated in his previous positions and
interactions with people at the lab that he is very good at communicating
both verbally and in writing.”

Although Whiteaker may be the new kid on the block in Wilson Hall, he is
certainly not a stranger to Fermilab.At the age of 16, he got his first summer
job between his junior and senior years of high school, working for the Roads
& Grounds Department at Fermilab.

“It was a great summer job because you never
had to work on nights or weekends. When you’re
in high school, you can’t do much better,” said
Whiteaker.“Fermilab’s summer programs serve
a real purpose because they reach out to
younger people and open their eyes to all kinds
of opportunities. After my first summer at Fermilab,
I knew that I always wanted to work here because
of the people and the atmosphere. Fermilab is the
only place that I have ever worked, and I love it.”

Whiteaker graduated from a high school class of
thirty people in the small town of Newark, Illinois.
He started working full time for the Roads &
Grounds Department in 1988 and was part of
the pesticides program for eight years.
For the past three years, Whiteaker
worked for the sign department, which
is a Roads & Grounds computerized
graphics program.

“In Roads &Grounds, everything
is about working as a team,” said
Whiteaker.“The same thing holds true
for being a good Building Manager.
I learned on my first day that you
couldn’t do all the things that a building
manager has to do without an extremely
long list of people. If you want to truly
interview the Building Manager, you
should have about thirty other people
in here. To say that it is all me just
wouldn’t be true.”

At the age of 32, Whiteaker is not only
adapting to the new role of Building
Manager, but in June, he will also have
the new role of Dad. When Whiteaker is
not at Fermilab or in a natural childbirth
class with his wife, he is taking night
classes toward his college degree.

“In another eight years, the degree will
be mine,” Whiteaker said with smile.
“Looking back on it, I would have liked
to have gone to college, but I just
wasn’t ready after high school. I am
at the age now when I want to have
a college degree. This is the time in
my life when I have to decide where
I am going.”

But Whiteaker has already set a steady course.

“Steve was a stand-out star at Roads & Grounds,
and he is going to do a wonderful job as building
manager,”said Collins, who will be making the
rounds with Whiteaker for introductions over the
next couple of weeks.“He has the people skills,
the motivation,and after being at Fermilab for
so many years, he has the background.”

Nevin could not agree more.

“Steve is an up-and-comer,” he said.“This is just
another stop in what will be a very exciting career
for him.”